death is not the end
by V. Sourweather
Summary: In which death is not the end... and it's not always a good thing. [Zombie!AU, rated M because of gore and suicide] Cover by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns


_Summary:__ In which death is not the end… and it's not always a good thing._

_Rating:__ M_

_Warnings:__ Gore, suicide_

_Disclaimer:__ I don't own anything, J.K. Rowling owns everything. And I don't make any money out of this story._

_.:._

_Written for:_

_**[HSWW]**__ Assignment #12: Game and Sports: Tabletop Games__ / Task #4 - Write a Zombie!AU_

_**[HSWW - Gryffindor Activity]**__ A Rare Chance at Love: (pairing) MarleneFabian, (dialogue) "You can't do this! You… you just can't!"_

_Word count (without the A/N): 2,113 words_

* * *

_**death is not the end:**_** Marlene McKinnon and Fabian Prewett**

Marlene heard the keys turn in the lock and a smile appeared on her lips. Fabian was finally home!

She turned around and wiped her hands on her apron, smiling brightly at the door which had just opened. Her fiancé appeared in the doorway and grinned back at her.

"You waited for me… again," he noticed, his eyes lingering on her apron and her flour-dusted hands. "And you've been baking—"

"Your favourite cake," she said, smiling up at him as he walked swiftly towards her.

"That's why I love you, Marls," he whispered, leaning in to peck her lips.

She stepped back and scowled a little to hide her smile. "Is that really the only reason why you're in love with me?" she asked playfully.

He hummed in her hair and then kissed her forehead.

"You know why I love you," he whispered before he stepped back and took a good look at the kitchen. "What happened here? Did you have a flour fight with someone other than _me_?"

And here it was, his playful side showing again… and that was one of the numerous things she loved about him. But she didn't really have time to dwell on those things right now, so she stepped around him and removed her apron.

"I waited for you, Fab, but now I have to go," she sighed.

"Already? I just got back!"

"And my night rounds are about to start. Maybe I'll even be late, so I need to go now."

He sighed and shook his head. "I hate my job sometimes. I can't see you as much as before, and it almost physically hurts…"

"Don't exaggerate, Fabian!" she exclaimed so that he could hear her beyond the closed door of the kitchen. And even though he wouldn't be able to hear her if she didn't shout, for she was now climbing the stairs when he had stayed in the kitchen, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

She didn't know why she apologized. They were both doing the job they'd always dreamed of, and they'd both agreed on letting the other do what they wanted, so she shouldn't feel the need to apologize. Especially when he was the one who'd brought it up in the first place.

She sighed and was pulling her hair up when her phone rang. She frowned and picked it up when she saw Dorcas's name on the screen.

"Marls, do not come to the hospital," she heard her friend whisper urgently on the other end of the line. "You have to stay—"

Marlene heard someone scream on the other end of the phone, and Dorcas whimpered. She could almost imagine her best friend hugging her knees close to her chest, desperately pressing the phone against her ear as if Marlene could come and save her if she just did _that_.

Dorcas had always been fearful, and even if she had tamed some of her fears in order to become a nurse, right now she sounded like her every fear had come true.

"I'm—I'm at the hospital, and you mustn't come. Just—Just stay home. Please, Marls. Stay with Fabian. Please." Another wail rang into the phone, closer to Dorcas, and her friend took a deep, quavering breath to calm herself.

"What's happening, Dorie?" Marlene asked anxiously. "You have to tell me."

"People. They're—They're in the whole hospital. And they're not behaving… normally."

"You have to get out of there, then. I'm coming for you."

She heard Dorcas take a sharp breath, and her best friend protested. "No, you have to stay where you are, it's safer!"

"But you're not safe—"

"I can get out. You have to believe me, I can get out. And when I do, I'll find you at your house, alright?" Her whispers were becoming more and more urgent, and Marlene could tell that the danger—the people, whoever they were—were getting closer to her.

"Dorcas—"

"I'll see you soon." Dorcas then hung up and Marlene could do nothing but stare helplessly at her phone, wondering what the hell was going on.

* * *

It had been one peaceful month. _Too_ peaceful, perhaps, but it was winter and she was sure these… creatures were as affected as they were by the cold.

But after all these months of being hunted by the… the zombies, or whatever they were (because they were still able to think, and see, and hear, they were just… not human anymore), a peaceful month was all her group was asking for.

They should have known though, as they lit up the fire, that it would cause problems. That it would cause _them_ to emerge from their lethargy and just attack them.

But after one _month_ of _not_ crossing paths with any of the creatures, they had let their guard down. They'd simply thought that the cover of the canopy would be enough, that the trees would hide the embers of their fire.

Lily was the one on guard that night (she had insisted, _why_ had she insisted?), and she was also the one who started screaming as loud as she could as the creatures tore a piece of her throat away.

The man (no, the thing that had once been a man) let her fall on the ground and turned towards them as other creatures appeared from behind the trees. It was almost as though they had been waiting for them, and Marlene pushed that thought away as she grabbed her knife.

These were easy to defeat, even without using their guns. There were five creatures for ten humans, and Marlene didn't waste any time as the last zombie landed on the floor to run towards Lily.

She was pressing a hand on her wound, but Marlene could see the red blood seeping through her fingers. She didn't need to have a look at the wound to know that the zombie had reached her jugular.

She refused to think about the fact that it was almost _strategic_; Lily would die faster that way, and she would come back soon after that.

She rather pressed a hand on Lily's throat, trying to take in all the emotions in her friend's bright green eyes. There was fear, resignation and… and strength too, she was sure of it. Not that there was much strength needed in that case.

She felt more than saw James kneel at her side, and Lily's eyes fell on him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she gurgled, "Go…"

"No, Lily. You cannot seriously think that after all we've been through, I would leave—"

Lily tore her hand away from under Marlene's pressure on her throat, and she tried to avoid thinking about the blood now sticking to her fingers.

"Go," the red-haired woman pressed on. "I'm… done. Go."

"She's telling the truth, James. We have to go, others might come. The blood…"

"I am not leaving her, Marlene. She's… For God's sake, she's carrying our baby! I can't leave them now!"

Marlene put a hand on James's shoulder and insisted (she _had to_, she couldn't let him, one of her best friends, die), "Come with us, James. They are both—"

"_Go,_" he interrupted her, his hazel eyes blazing as he looked straight into her eyes.

She sighed, not wanting to give him the other option (the best option, she knew). If he couldn't even accept leaving her behind, how could he accept her killing herself? Or worse, how could he kill her himself?

Lily understood that too. She swatted Marlene's hand away with the last of her strength and once again put her own hand on her wound.

"You go," she whispered weakly.

Marlene felt Fabian's hand on her shoulder, and he pulled her up almost effortlessly.

"We'll see you on the other side then?" she said, smiling sadly.

"See you on the other side," James replied.

And she turned around, leaving behind a tiny piece of her heart with her two (no, three) friends.

* * *

She felt it. The precise moment her life ended. She felt the monster holding her back by her right arm, and she wanted to scream but could only gasp in pain as its teeth sank into her tender skin.

She saw Fabian turn around and stare, horrified, at the creature still holding her arm, and she heard someone else shout her name (was it Molly?). She didn't give anyone time to react before she tore her hand away from Fabian's grasp and reached for a knife.

She plunged her weapon into the creature's skull and felt almost no resistance. She could almost see something human shining in the thing's eyes as it fell limply on the ground, and she gasped once again. Perhaps it was because she was about to become like this man that she suddenly felt more pity.

She didn't have time to think about it more than this though, because Fabian was already pulling her with him again.

And they ran, and they ran for what felt like hours, until she couldn't do it anymore and almost tripped over her own feet.

"Fabian," she whispered, tugging on his hand.

He stopped and turned, eyeing her worriedly (and there was also a trace of weariness, but she could understand so _why was he trying to hide it?_).

"We have to keep going," he answered tensely.

"I can't run anymore," she sighed. "I—"

A flash. _Cold, determined eyes, open mouth, bitten hand outstretched, blood… and hunger… Hunger._

She shivered. This was the first time she had ever seen one of _them_, when it had tried to get into their locked house. But it was now mixed with flashes of what she was about to become.

She tried to think rationally. The turning usually didn't happen so soon, but they had been running like hell to try and put some distance between the small herd and them. It had to be related to the blood rushing fast through her veins.

Her eyes involuntarily landed on Fabian's left hand. The gun he was holding. She had to have it. She had to—

"No way!" her fiancé exclaimed. "I'm not giving you that gun!"

"I'm already turning. I can feel it… _see_ it."

"It's too soon," he declared, frowning.

"The blood. It's the blood," she explained, wiping a drop of sweat that had almost fallen through her lashes.

He stared at her and she could see the exact moment when it clicked. When he started to panic.

"You can't do this! You… you just can't!" he cried out. "You can't just think about leaving me alone!"

"Remember Lily and James?" she asked.

He blanched but nodded all the same.

"I don't want _us_ to be _them_. So please, please, give me the gun."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fabian," she murmured.

She put a hand on one of his cheeks and traced his cheekbone with her thumb. She put all the love she could muster in the gesture, and he could feel it because he closed his eyes, trying to hide his tears, and handed her the gun.

"I'll stay by your side, Marls. Always," he promised.

And she felt grateful for having found someone like him in her too short life.

Tears (she didn't know tears of what… sadness? gratefulness? love? Or maybe a little of the three?) rolled down her cheeks as he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I love you so much," she sighed against his chest, trying to forget about the gun in her hand and the monsters probably roaming around them.

He pulled away and smiled sadly (she didn't think she had seen someone that desperate in a long time).

"I love you too," he answered quietly.

She stared into his grey eyes and suddenly reminded him, "Death is not the end. It's only… the beginning. So I'll see you on the other side when it's time for you to join me, right?"

"Right," he agreed.

She nodded, satisfied, but her hand trembled all the same as she put the barrel of the gun against her temple, and she closed her eyes.

Just as she was about to pull the trigger, flashes of monsters appeared behind her closed eyelids and she whimpered. She didn't want to go with that image in her mind.

So she waited until all traces of violence left her mind and she could paint Fabian's features in her head. His high forehead and strong jaw, his big nose, his red and untamed hair, his stubble that had grown into a full beard over the past weeks…

Only when she had that beautiful image carved in her heart did she pull the trigger.

And after the blankness… Light. Everywhere.

* * *

_Also written for:_

_**[HPFC]**__ Ship Your Character: MarleneFabian_


End file.
